OTTAWA ― If you had to pick two words to sum up the job market for Canadians in 2013, what would they be?

Looking at today’s release of year-end employment statistics, Ken Georgetti’s words are “discouraged” and “underemployed”; if he could pick a third it would be “indifference” to describe the federal government’s reaction.

Disappointing as the overall numbers were – employment gains in 2013 amounted to just 0.6% and employment growth averaged 8,500 per month in 2013, compared with 25,900 in 2012 – Georgetti says it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says the Conservative government is blocking all attempts to improve the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans, and Ken Georgetti is calling on ordinary citizens to help provincial governments push back against that irresponsible decision.

OTTAWA ― Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, says that the time for action has arrived on expanding the Canada and Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP).

“Retirement security is one of Canadians’ biggest concerns and rightly so,” Georgetti says. “There’s no big secret why we should expand the CPP – it simply makes sense.” Georgetti’s comments come as Canada’s finance ministers plan to meet in Ottawa and at Meech Lake on December 15-16. CPP reform will be uppermost on their agenda.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that workers everywhere are mourning the death of Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa and leader of the African National Congress (ANC).

“Canadians will forever remember the courage and dignity of a statesman who devoted his life to end South Africa’s system of apartheid, the legalized racial discrimination against black South Africans,” says CLC President Ken Georgetti.

OTTAWA ― The Canadian Labour Congress, working in partnership with researchers at Western University, is launching a national survey on the impact of domestic violence on workers and workplaces, the first-ever survey of its kind in Canada.

Relief efforts are underway in the Philippines after Friday's massive typhoon, with some analysts calling it the most powerful storm to ever make landfall. Thousands may be dead, and homes, businesses and infrastructure are lying in ruin.

Your help is urgently needed. Through our partnership with OXFAM Canada, you can make a donation earmarked for Typhoon Haiyan relief that qualifies for a matching contribution from the Canadian government. Click here to make your donation now.

OTTAWA ― Amendments that the Conservative government has slipped into a giant budget bill is an attack on the constitutional right to collective bargaining, says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

“The Conservative government is using a 308 page budget bill to do by stealth what they will not do by the light of day,” says Georgetti. “This government has a habit of using this technique to push things through it knows will be unpopular so that there is no chance for real debate. It’s playing partisan politics with their employees' livelihoods.”

OTTAWA ― The Canadian Labour Congress says that the lives of workers in the federal sector will be placed in danger as a result of cynical amendments that the Conservative government is making to the Canada Labour Code.

“These amendments could put workers’ lives at risk by redefining dangerous work,” says Hassan Yussuff, CLC Secretary-Treasurer. “The Conservatives are up to their old tricks of packing all kinds of nasty changes into a budget implementation bill, but this time they have gone too far.”

OTTAWA―The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that employment growth continues to lag five years after the economy began to shed jobs in the Great Recession that began in the fall of 2008.

“The number of new jobs is not keeping up with population growth, and as a result too many people are being forced into precarious work and highly unstable self-employment,” says CLC president Ken Georgetti. “That is causing hardship and anxiety for Canadians and especially for younger families.”

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that youth unemployment and the quality of jobs across the economy remain big concerns in Canada.

Ken Georgetti was commenting on the release by Statistics Canada of its Labour Force Survey for August 2013. There were 1,362,000 unemployed Canadians in August and the overall unemployment rate was 7.1%. In the 15-to-24 age group, official unemployment stood at 14.1%, an increase from 13.9% in July. Fully 48.3% of young workers were employed part-time, up from 47.9% in July.

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says workers in Canada have much to celebrate on Labour Day because union wages benefit the entire community.

“We believe in the old saying that what we desire for ourselves we wish for all,” says Ken Georgetti. “Many of the benefits first won by unions are enjoyed by all workers today, including fair wages, overtime pay, pensions, workplace safety standards, parental leaves, vacation pay and protection from discrimination and harassment.”

OTTAWA ― The federal government’s decision to pave the way for the multinational giant Verizon to enter Canada’s telecommunications market will cost thousands of jobs and will not benefit consumers in the long run, says Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

OTTAWA ― The Canadian Labour Congress has endorsed a national consumer boycott against a number of imported brands of Labatt beer and is calling on the company to return to the bargaining table.

“This is a David and Goliath struggle between about 50 local workers and the world’s largest multi-national brewing corporation trying to force its employees into a race to the bottom,” says CLC President Ken Georgetti. “Canadian workers and their unions are not going to stand idly by and allow this to happen.”

OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the job numbers for July are a big disappointment and he is calling on the federal government and employers to invest in both job creation and training.

“Our economy lost 39,400 jobs in July and the unemployment rate is up. This is a wakeup call and we want governments and private sector employers to invest in job creation and training.